After Tuesday’s practice, Phantoms coach Scott Gordon sat in one of the coach’s offices off a hallway leading to the rink where goaltender Alex Lyon turned away 49 of the 52 shots he faced from the Providence Bruins just three days prior.

Stating the obvious, Gordon said without Lyon’s performance the Phantoms would have probably needed a Game 5 Monday to decide who would advance instead of clinching the series with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 4 on Saturday.

But with a new opponent now in the Atlantic Division Finals – the Charlotte Checkers – the Phantoms will need much more than just a hot goaltender if they want to advance again.

They’re facing a much stronger team on offense in Charlotte, the only team to score more goals during the AHL regular season than Lehigh Valley. And the Checkers’ offense hasn’t taken any breaks in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Charlotte, a three seed in the Atlantic Division, upset the second-seeded Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a three-game sweep, scoring just as many goals (14) as the Phantoms did in their series, even though the Phantoms played an extra game.

“They have four first lines,” Gordon said of Charlotte. “There is not one drop in play, whoever they put over the boards. We’ll have to play a certain way to handle them. We have to play with a certain level of intelligence because they do have some fire power. We just can’t feed their offense.”

While a matchup between the AHL’s highest powered offenses would sound like it would be a recipe for some fireworks and unhappy netminders, Phantoms captain Colin McDonald is banking on the opposite now that they’re in the playoffs.

“Even teams that might be a little more run and gun during the regular season really buckle down defensively,” McDonald said. “You see guys blocking shots who don’t normally block shots. Kind of everything that the playoffs entail. … I don’t expect a run and gun type of games. I think coaches at this point anticipate more 2-1, 2-2, those type of games.”

Lehigh Valley and Charlotte evenly split their regular-season series with each squad winning four games but on the Phantoms’ most recent trip to visit the Checkers, they didn’t fare well. Playing back-to-back games at Bojangles’ Coliseum on April 3 and 4, the Phantoms lost the contests by a combined score of 9-2.

The good news is the Phantoms, who are the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division after amassing 104 standings points this season, have home-ice advantage once again. Unlike last series, which was altered due to a scheduling issue, the Phantoms will also start this series at home.

“With the seven-game series and starting out at home, we want to approach it that it’s not going to last forever,” Gordon said. “We want to make sure we’re ready to play and know that we don’t want to get down 2-0 and maximize the home-ice advantage.”

Going down 2-0 with home-ice advantage is exactly what the Phantoms did last year in their first-round series against Hershey and Gordon said that created anxiety while never really allowing them to catch their breath.

Before this round both teams received a breather. Typically teams earning a sweep get extra rest so it’s not odd that Charlotte’s break was just over a week. But since the Phantoms didn’t take much longer to finish their series, they’ll enjoy five full days between games.

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Phantoms captain Colin McDonald talks about his team’s Game 3 blowout loss to the Toronto Marlies.

Phantoms captain Colin McDonald talks about his team’s Game 3 blowout loss to the Toronto Marlies.

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Phantoms captain Colin McDonald talks about his team’s Game 3 blowout loss to the Toronto Marlies.

Phantoms captain Colin McDonald talks about his team’s Game 3 blowout loss to the Toronto Marlies.

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Phantoms defenseman Mark Friedman talks about his goal and catching his own stick in Game 2 of the AHL Eastern Conference Finals.

Phantoms defenseman Mark Friedman talks about his goal and catching his own stick in Game 2 of the AHL Eastern Conference Finals.

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The Lehigh Valley Phantoms take the ice for Game 2 warmups in the AHL Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Marlies.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms take the ice for Game 2 warmups in the AHL Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Marlies.

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Phantoms defenseman Phil Myers talks about his team’s Game 1 loss to the Toronto Marlies.

Phantoms defenseman Phil Myers talks about his team’s Game 1 loss to the Toronto Marlies.

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A time-lapse video of pregame activities before Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs’ Atlantic Division Finals.

A time-lapse video of pregame activities before Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs’ Atlantic Division Finals.

They needed a start just like they had the previous night, which resulted in a 4-1 win and 2-1 lead in...

Gordon believes that will take away any advantage Charlotte may have had, as far as rest goes, with the sweep. If anything, he thinks it could work against them. Too much time off can affect “game sharpness.” The Phantoms welcomed their break, however, as some players told Gordon they were still dragging a little on Tuesday.

Overall, the expectations are this second round, best-of-seven series will be much tougher than the first for the Phantoms because of the way the Checkers play. They have a lot of skill and use it differently than what Lehigh Valley just saw from Providence. That will make things a little more complex for the Phantoms.

“The Providence series was more about just being in the right places where the Charlotte team, you’re going to have to make some reads and identify the situations because they aren’t a straight-line team,” Gordon said. “They pull up and delay in offensive zone. Their breakouts, they’re looking to get on the attack right away and not necessarily where the automatics are.”

Phantoms notes: Phantoms forward and AHL MVP Phil Varone was injured in Friday's game against Providence and did not play in the final game of the first round series. He was at practice Tuesday skating in a non-contact jersey but when asked if he would be ready for Game 1 against Charlotte he would only say "we'll see." Varone led the Phantoms in points in the regular season with 70. Phantoms coach Scott Gordon didn't have any extra details regarding other injuries. Sam Morin participated in practice again and is close, according to the coach, but an exact return is still unknown.

Charlotte notes: Including the end to the regular season, the Checkers are unbeaten in regulation in their last 13 games going 12-0-1. With their three-game sweep of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the first round they have won 10 straight. Two of those 10 wins were back-to-back victories over the Phantoms. ... While the Checkers led the league in scoring during the regular season with 262 goals, they were relatively solid on defense as well. Only one team in the Atlantic Division allowed less than their 212 goals (the Providence Bruins) and they were fourth in goals against in the Eastern Conference.